We all met at the Dingeman lot. After a few quick words from the tour leaders we set off. Everybody met at the front gate and it wasn’t long before we were escorted in by Captain Ring and his wife. There were 3 carriers in, the Nimitz, the Reagan, and the Vinson. We were told that was a pretty rare for them all to be in at the same time.
We drove straight in and got to park right next to the Nimitz. It totally dwarfs everything around it. We got to head directly up to the main hanger deck. There was only a single plane since all the others flew off the ship before porting in San Diego. They keep that plane on the ship to practice drills on.  There are two huge flags in the hanger. A US flag and the Nimitz flag they are very impressive. Capt Ring spent some time explaining what we were going to see, a brief history of the ship and gave us all some time to ask some questions. He explained they had just finished inspection and passed with flying colors. Everything we saw during the tour was in great shape and totally organized.  We then split into three groups. The boys went in two groups and the girl scouts and a few of the boys went in another.
We got see the room where they plan aircraft operations. The squadron commanders are all there during flight operations. The seats all have the squadron logos or motos on them. Everything that is going on during flight operations out past the carrier are monitored and controlled from that room. It is basically a Air Traffic Control operation, much like what happens at a civilian airport.
We saw the room where the Air Boss controls the planes as they take off and land. We learned that the planes take off in just minutes from each other. They always do it pretty fast because the ships movements are very predictable during this time.Â
We saw another area where the planes are controlled as they move around on the deck of the ship. This area was unique because the have a map on the table and little cut out planes they move around with nuts and bols and washers and tacks to tell them what is going on. It is a very effecient, but very low tech solution. It works so well that the operates have refused to move to a computerized system.
We got to see the bridge, where the captain sits and controls the ship. He can look out over the flight deck and see what is going on.
We got to the flight deck and also to the front of the ship which has a ceremonial area where the anchor chains move through the ship into a hold.Â
We broke into three groups the tours, but they were not exactly the same. The group with Capt Ring got to see his office, the women’s bunk area, the officers bunk area and the officers dining area. Which may have been different than the other groups.
As we toured each of these rooms the person in charge explained their role, and what the main purposes of the stations were. These folks were all very dedicated and showed a lot of pride in what they do and their ship. Before we left we did a few group photos. The ship had a few people following the tours and took pictures for us. When we get those, they will posted to the web.Â
If your scout would like to thank the crew and captain for the tour a simple e-mail sent to me would be an excellent way. I will forward what I get to Capt Ring in the next week or so. I know the crew really enjoyed having us and would probably love to hear how much we enjoyed it too.